562 - Early Introduction to Multidisciplinary Teams: An Interprofessional Approach in Teaching Patient Safety to Medical, Nursing and Pharmacy Students

Poster Number: 562
Publication Number: 562.326

Morgan A. Green, Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Colton, CA, United States; Matthew Fong, Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Loma Linda, CA, United States; Lisa T. Hong, Loma Linda University School of Pharmacy, Loma Linda, CA, United States; Brandie Richards, Loma Linda University, redlands, CA, United States; Salem Dehom, Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Loma linda, CA, United States

Background: The clinical setting is largely comprised of multidisciplinary teams leveraging their training for the advancement of patient care. Our goal is to introduce a model of interprofessional education (IPE) during the preclinical years of medical, nursing, and pharmacy student training to enhance familiarity of clinical roles and demonstrate the value of interprofessional communication in patient safety.

Objective: We designed an IPE session for students to explore system vulnerabilities and ultimately, how health care systems can cause patient harm. We aimed to measure the impact of this IPE on students' interprofessional competency.

Design/Methods: Pre-session reading was provided to better understand the roles and responsibilities of each profession. Students were divided into four, two-hour sessions across two afternoons. Smaller groups within each session included representatives from each of the three schools. Each session started with a pre-quiz, followed by a brief lecture regarding patient safety terminology, ethical obligation to disclose errors, and the responsibility of different team members in patient care and error reporting. Students collaborated within their small groups to conduct a root cause analysis on a medication error reaching a patient. Afterwards, students completed a post-quiz, the validated Interprofessional Collaborative Competencies Attainment Survey (ICCAS) tool, as well as effectiveness questions.

Results: 237 students completed the survey. The overall mean ICCAS scores of the students before and after the IPE were 5.45 ± 0.83 versus 6.01 ± 0.72 (p <0.001), representing a 10.28% improvement. There was statistically significant increases in all subscales, most noticeably in those of communication and collaboration categories. Cronbach’s alpha was about 0.97, affirming strong internal reliability of the ICCAS tool as a measure of student's growth through this experience.  Most students (71.7%) felt the session was very/extremely relevant to their training and 91.9% said they would use what they learned in their profession. The effectiveness questions demonstrated improvement in knowledge of interprofessional collaboration, yet 34.6% stated they need additional training in this subject matter.

Conclusion(s): Early introduction to patient safety through case-based IPE improves interprofessional competency for preclinical learners with student desire for further development.